Coffee Cups
by Michael Prower
Summary: Things started off so well, I had an awesome job but because of one small mishap I'm stuck busing tables at a local coffee shop. To make things worse I can't help it when my emotions run wild because of the barista! (Pairings: [Shadow & Silver], [Sonic & Tails])
1. Chapter 1

**Coffee Cups: _Chapter 1_**

**By Michael Aura Prower**

**~SILVER**

Something simple and light. A nice warmth spreads over my body.

"Ahh" I sigh. Taking a sip from my dark roast coffee. I glance up from my computer to again stare at the hedgehog behind the counter. "He's so... ugh, I don't even know how to explain it...I couldn't just ask him out could I? No he probably has a girlfriend" sighing again I look back down at my computer.

Currently I'm sitting in a nice little cafe on Cloud St.: Coffee&Cream. With my laptop and a nice spot in the corner, where I can look at people without drawing suspicion.

Speaking of drawing; I was almost done with my latest drawing of the hedgehog I was talking about earlier.

His name, Shadow. Age... I think 18ish. Occupation Batista at my favorite coffee shop. And theft of my heart. God what am I thinking. I sound like a freaking character out of a fanfiction novel. Anyway, adding the final touches to the drawing I saved it and sent it to print at my apartment. Then standing up I gather all my things. Laptop, drawing tablet, Folder of all the pictures of Shadow, and shove them all in my backpack.

Walking from my corner I passed by the counter where that hog was currently washing the cups used to make the elixir of life.

"Have a nice day, Sir" A deep voice called out behind me. Almost squeaking embarrassingly I stutter out a reply without looking back.

"Uh...T-thanks, you t-too." I manage to rush out of there without him noticing the blush currently adorning my face.

Grr, I growl at my inability to look him in the eye. I shake it off and start towards my job. And you may be asking what do I do for a living? Well, I'm one of the editors for a photography CO. :Glass Sky Photography. What I do is when one of the senior photographers puts a caption or explication of the picture I'm the one to edit it for mistakes and correct what doesn't make sense. Fun Right? Wrong. Also I'm the coffee boy, and personally, I'm not complaining when I get to see Shadow every few hours.

You may be asking another question. Do you take any pictures? Aww, you all are so curious it's almost cute. But to answer you, yes sometimes I will take pictures for the cover or something if someone didn't make the deadline.

"Good morning Mr. Silver!" a pink furry hedgehog perkely jogs me from my train of thought and my conversation with you all. Rude!

"Oh hi Amy." Amy is a junior editor and currently shares a cubicle with me. "Hey did you find that new explication from Leo?"

"AHH! I forgot! Hurry come with me! I hate to face him alone. And maybe he would cut me some slack if I came in with you." I sigh.

"Fine, but this can't keep happening! If you keep doing this, he'll fire you." We then set off to go to the big office building where Glass Sky is based.

"So?" She asks questioningly trying to contain her excitement, "Did you see him today?! Was he as cute and mysterious as always? Did he notice you?" Amys flurry of questions continued.

Cutting her off "Yes, Yes, and Yes" Those answers were responded with a high pitched squeak.

"OH MY GOSH! You two would make a perfect couple! I know it! Shy, Naive, and quiet meets dark, mysterious, and sexy!" And thats when she lost me. Her fangirl squeals faded out as I thought of Shadow and I. Running along a pure white sandy beach, the vibrant shades of turquoise contrasting with his beautiful and enticing ruby red eyes. His hand in mine, the grits of soft sand between my toes.

"Silver? Silver, hello? Are you there?" I could only respond with a meek nod. My eyes still glazed over as the images continue to play in full technicolor. "Um, anyway Silver? About that thing for Leo?"

My personal fantasy was cut short as we approached the tall glass building on the corner of the large plaza. "Oh right, that. Yeah I can give you my version of it. Although you should change it up a bit. Leo is starting to recognize my style of writing."

"Oh my gosh, you're a life saver! I'll be by to pick it up in a couple minutes. I have to quickly talk to Rotor. There's a light above my desk that keeps flickering on and off. Bye!" She gave me a quick hug and ran off towards the IT department.

Meanwhile I walked towards the large glass elevator. Oh, I should describe this office building a little more. Because maybe you like learning about where I work...maybe. Anyway the whole thing is mostly made of glass with white fiberglass for some of the walls. Almost everything is glass. Floors, elevators, railings, bridges, walls. Another weird things is that the building is like a couple of pyramids smashed together at different angles. So yeah...that's your daily info for the day. And who said I wasn't educational.

Speaking of educational, a group of kids led by one of the receptionist was walking along the walkway my elevator was heading to right now. The glass cube stopped and the doors slid open quietly. As I walked along the bridge I noticed a pair of very familiar cream colored bunny ears.

"Oh! Good Morning, !" A small voiced called out. I turn and kneel to met her eyes.

"Hi Cream, how are you?" I said tossing her fur between her ears. I couldn't help but notice that the whole class had stopped and stared at the girl dumbfounded. Shocked to find out that little Cream had friends in such a 'cool' place. I almost found it flattering.

"I'm well, thank you for asking! This nice lady here has been showing our class around your huge building. So far we've seen the processing room, printing room, and the editing department. Oh, thats right. I left you a little present on your desk. Also, why do you have a couple of pictures of a hedgehog on your desk... do you know him?" The innocence in her eyes almost blinding.

"Oh...um, well..." I trail off awkwardly. "He's a friend of mine." She smiled completely oblivious to my lie. I felt bad for lying to her. But she nodded anyway and gave me a big hug and skipped back to her group.

"Bye ! See you after you're done with work!" That reminded me that I was picking her after work. So I waved and told her that I'd see her soon. Tuning I again started for my desk. I soon came to the Editing division of the building. Swiping my card I pushed the heavy door and waved at the receptionist Nikki. I continued till I reached my cubicle. The said cubicle was a comical sight. You could tell who worked here. One side was a mixture of pink, purple, and white. While the other was white, neon blue, and gold. I sat down and opened my bag. Out came my laptop and some other office supplies. I set it all in the correct spot and then booted up my laptop. When it had finished I saw a message from Amy.

**NEW MESSAGE START**

**To: Silver Editing**

**From: Amy Editing**

_Hey Silvy,_

_I can't get up there in time. Rotor has given me a whole load of paperwork to fill out before he can fix that light. Anyway I need you to hand in that paper to Leo. Just say that I'm down here in IT. Ily!_

_Amy._

**END MESSAGE**

Poor Amy. Those IT forms are a pain. I remembered one time my laptop had broke, and filling out those forms had taken at least an hour to fill out. So feeling pity I went ahead and printed out the paper. After picking it up I headed to Leo's head executive suite office. I knocked on the door.

"Come in." A voice called from inside. Walking in I saw the badger sitting at his desk. Leo was a short little thing. A little scatterbrained sometimes but man, did he have a temper. I handed him 'Amy's' paper. "What's this?"

"Amy's stuck down in IT filling out forms and she asked me to print out her expectation that was due today." He nodded and set the paper on his large oak desk. He then sat down and opened a desk drawer; from it he pulled out a notepad and handed it to me.

"Here is a list of tasks I need you to do. They're divided into things you need to do here and things you need to give to people in other departments. I need this done today." His last gruffly voiced words were dismissive. Taking the hint I turned and headed towards the door. But he stopped me. "Hey, I also need you to make a run to Coffee & Cream. We ran out of that stuff from this morning ages ago. Some workers are getting cranky." I nodded eagerly. "Good."

When I had returned to my desk I noticed a little box near some stacks of paper. I'm surprised that I didn't notice it before. I picked it up and examined it. It was the size of a few dry erase marker and wrapped in what looked like todays newspaper.

Unwrapping it I found a little friendship bracelet made from beads and what looked like bits from a charm bracelet. I since her mother died I've been the one taking care of her. Shes become somewhat of a daughter to me. When It was my first day of work she woke up an hour before six and made me breakfast. It may have been slightly singed at the edges but I swear I've never seen her happier when I told her that it was great. Then everyday after that she would put little notes in my lunch after I had finished making them. In a couple years when I'm old enough I'm going to adopt her for real. Since the orphanage is about 4 houses down she walks to my apartment waiting to walk to school together. Mina, the head of the orphanage and I are old friends so she doesn't mind. Just as long as she makes it home before 8:30 PM. Slipping on the bracelet I sit down and pick up the note pad with all the chores I have to do.

"I swear, If I see another piece of stupid IT paperwork I'm going to kill someone!" I heard Amy storming and stomping from around the corner. She had walked in glaring daggers at the light above her desk.

"Careful if you glare daggers, it might break even more" I teased. She just huffed and haphazardly threw herself on her chair.

"For a building thats supposedly modern and high tech; we sure have the crappiest lights ever!" With her deflated attitude she spun around and opened her laptop and started to boot it up. While she was waiting she kept spinning despite the chair squeaking in protest. When she got bored of that she glanced over to me her eyes caught the little charm bracelet.

"That from Cream?"

I simply nodded, taking a moment to marvel at the intricacy of what that little six year old did. Upon closer examination I found that every charm had been from memories we shared. A little stone bird from when I took her to the plaza, an old Coke cap from when she stayed over at my apartment after the fire. There were a few more but a slight cough from Amy brought my mind back from memory lane.

"Hey, did when you were at Coffee&Cream did you happen to pick up anymore coffee~?" She asked sweetly dragging out the last e. "Or wait! I bet you forgot because when Shadow spoke to you so you freaked and scurred out of there as fast as your hedgehog legs could carry you!"

Quickly I stood up, I had completely forgotten about getting more coffee! Turning away as to hide the crimson blush caused by my forgetfulness I grabbed my bag and ran off. Amy just laughed after me.

"God, he's hopeless and a little naive." She shook her head and turned back to her computer.

**end chapter~3**

**Hello all my beautiful readers! Thanks for taking time to (hopefully) enjoy this story. REMEMBER! R&R, because that's what makes my world go round! Love y'all!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Coffee Cups:**_**_ Chapter 2_**_

**By Michael Aura Prower**

**~SILVER**

My feet slammed hard against the concrete, sidestepping here and there to avoid the various people out and about enjoying their days, I turned a corner sharply holding on to nearby street letting it help me navigate the corner cleanly. Within a few more minutes I got my first glimpse of Coffee & Cream, I slowed slightly and soon I was pushing the heavy oak door open. The familiar sound of the tinkling bell greeted my ears along with the mid afternoon crowd.

"Oh? Hey, you're back." Shadow greeted from behind the counter leaning against the back counter looking bored, his ears peaked with interest.

"Y-yeah, I forgot to grab the coffee containers from earlier…" I confessed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head sheepishly. He nodded and glanced over to a few coffee boxes marked with the logo of the shop. "Oh!" _Wow Silver, think you could be anymore scatter brained?!_ I mentally face palmed to myself. Getting up from the slight sitting on the counter position he was in Shadow walked over to the containers and heaved them up into his arms and brought them over to the register trying but failing to set the heavy containers lightly on the counter, I winced slightly at the loud thud they made against the marble.

He tapped a few buttons on the tablet register then looked at me expectantly. But I couldn't help but pause to drink in his gaze, those ruby eyes held so much depth and brilliant shades of red that you could practically fall into and get lost in them. I must have zoned out to the world because I found myself brought back to reality by a small cough from the darker hedgehog. Blinking I look down to see that I need to sign the tablet to pay for the coffee. _You idiot, now he thinks you're a weirdo for staring for so long. How long was I staring for...?_ I signed my name he flipped the tablet back around and tapped a few more times then took it off its stand and set it on top of the containers then heaved them both back into his arms and walked around the opposite end of the counter, carefully balancing them skillfully. "Uhh... Do you want any help?" I asked, ready to catch anything should it fall.

"Nope, it's part of my job to transport this quantity of coffee by hand" He replied shaking his head to stop me from worrying so much and dismissing my offer to help. I gave him a concerned look until he arched an eyebrow at me "Are we gonna go or am I going to keep standing here like an idiot?" He questioned me, and I could have sworn that I saw what resembled a small smirk and mischievous glint in his eyes. His skirm only seemed to grow bigger as I turned quickly on my heel hoping to hide my embarrassed blush.

Stepping out into the sunlight I held open the door for Shadow, whom seemed to be handling those jugs of coffee perfectly fine despite their heavy weight. As we walked towards Glass Sky a few people we passed waved hello to Shadow and some even offered to help, but Shadow would either brush them off or give them an annoyed look and with that people would just awkwardly continue about their business.

"Wow, I guess you must be quite popular" I spoke up after another few people waved hello.

He grunted and shifted the jugs in his arms, "Yeah I guess so, but that must come with making the stuff all these people live on." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his remark. Pretty soon we arrived at the office and I walked ahead a few steps to open the door and allow him into the building. After letting the receptionist know about Shadow helping me I led him over to the elevator, motioning him in. But as I was stepping into the glass box, I couldn't help but overhear some workers from Shipping making a few remarks.

"Aw lookie there, Silver needed the coffee barista's help with lifting a few things of coffee." One guy commented bumping the other one with their elbow.

"Haha, yeah, I guess you don't build up no muscles but your fingers when you sit on your arse all day" With that remark they both burst into laughter.

I flushed bright red and my ears dipped low against my head, and suddenly my shoes became the most interesting thing in the world. Even as the thick doors slid shut I could still hear their muffled laughter.

As the elevator rose from the ground I felt a nudging and out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked like a concerned look from the darker hedgehog. I was about to respond saying something along the lines of 'Don't worry, I'm fine' But the ding and opening of the doors cut me off before I could even open my mouth. I stepped out on the walkway and put my arm out to keep the elevator doors open for Shadow, letting him slip past me.

"SILVER!" An angry voice called out behind me and it only made my heart sink further. "Who is this? I never authorized this!" I knew quite well whose temper I ignited: Leo's. I hesitantly turned to face the quite short but extremely dangerous (when angry) badger.

"Oh, uh sir! I-I uh-" I stammered completely blanking on a good excuse.

But Shadow jumped in cutting me off "Excuse me sir, I need you to sign for this coffee shipment. It against store policy for me to have Silver sign and transport this amount of product." His voice completely monotone and even bored sounding. Leo just looked at him like he had two heads but then huffed clearly annoyed. Motioning for the tablet I reached up and retrieved it from the top of the containers and handed it to Leo. He signed and returned it back to me, then pushing between us he continued on his way.

But as he was leaving he turned halfway, "Silver, next time don't bother me with these monotonous things, just have shipping handle it. I'd think you'd be smart enough to think of that. Oh and I have a list of jobs I need done by today." After glaring once more at each of us he turned on his heel and walked straight into the waiting elevator.

Once the glass box shot down the elevator shaft I couldn't help but give an exasperated sigh. "Sorry about him, I was hoping to avoid that confrontation, but I guess that's just my luck, eh? I can take those containers now if you want." I held my arms out but Shadow just tilted his head towards the door and continued walking towards it. Understanding what he meant I ran ahead of him and held open the door.

A few moments and doors later we were both standing in the small break room. Shadow had gone ahead and started pouring the coffee into their respective warming pots already set up from this morning. While he did that I took the chance to look out the full wall window on the opposite side of the room observing the people below, all going about their business unaware of anything but their own doings. Shadow had walked from the counter to come and stand next to me, curious to what I was looking at.

"Wow, I never realized you guys had such an awesome view. It's definitely better than the one back at my job." I couldn't help but steal a quick glance at the hedgehog beside me. His ruby eyes were glancing around, looking at the people and buildings below us. The red in his eyes accented by the nearby lights and the sunbeams filtering in through the thick tempered glass. I found myself staring again, both encaptured by his eyes and by the fact that this was the first time I'd heard the hedgehogs voice clearly, without any background noise or interruptions. I couldn't help but mull over the way his deep voice reverberated and resonated so uniquely. It was music to my ears, honestly he could make even the most boring of articles sound interesting.

"Yeah" I agreed "I guess you're right, I never really took the chance to stop and look, I kinda have to be on the go 24/7." I answered back turning back to look out the window again.

"Well, I better get going" Shadow said glancing down at his watch "Guess I'll be seeing you soon." He then turned away from the window and walked out the break room door. Within a few minutes I saw him slip out the main doors and out into the stream of people. I tried to keep an eye on him as he navigated the crowd but soon the masses enveloped him and I couldn't distinguish him anymore. A little saddened by his absence I turned away from the window, poured myself a cup of the coffee we'd brought and then went to find out what Leo wanted me to do.

**end chapter~3**

_**Hiya! Thanks for taking time out of your lives to read the second chapter of Coffee Cups. Normally I'm not one for posting an update so super soon, but I thought, 'Ehh what the heck!' So here ya go~! REMEMBER TO R&R because thats what got this chapter up so soon!**_

_**Anyways, love you my lovely readers~!**_

_**MAP**_

_**(P.S. THANK YOU SO SUPER MUCH, BlazeCat221, for the first review ever! You rock!)**_


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